Madras HC Grants Anticipatory Bail To Kunal Kamra Amid Calls For His Arrest Over Eknath Shinde Joke
The Madras High Court granted interim anticipatory bail to comedian Kunal Kamra after an FIR was filed against him for allegedly insulting Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
The Madras High Court on Friday granted interim anticipatory bail plea to stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra after an FIR was registered against him for allegedly insulting Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde.
A bench of Justice Sunder Mohan said that Kamra has prima facie satisfied the Madras High Court that he is unable to approach courts in Maharashtra for protection. Kamra received the relief till April 7 as his counsel had urged for sufficient time to approach courts in Maharashtra.
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‘Will Cut You Into Pieces’: Kunal Kamra Gets Hundreds Of Threat Calls After Eknath Shinde Joke
Justice Mohan observed that the case does not warrant custodial interrogation and that Kamra “can’t approach Maharashtra courts for relief as there are threats by party workers, ministers there, and that hence interim anticipatory bail is sought to approach Maharashtra courts later".
The lawyer, appearing for Kamra, apprised the high court that the comedian has received over 500 threat calls.
“They say they will ‘teach them in Shiv Sena style’. What is ‘Shiv Sena style’ is common knowledge… The people who vandalised the hotel – no serious action taken, they are let out on bail. This is the type of threat I am facing. I have always said I believe in the Constitution," Kamra’s counsel said.
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Kamra’s counsel said no one has been named in the stand-up act and the comedian has talked about many people. “Parody is part of satire.. Supreme Court has said satire, parody is part of accepted speech," he added, Bar & Bench reported.
Kamra submitted he moved to Tamil Nadu from Mumbai in 2021 and has been “ordinarily a resident of this State since then" and that he feared arrest by Mumbai Police.
The 36-year-old stand-up comic has received two summons by the Mumbai police over his comments on Shinde during his latest show.
The controversy stems from Kamra’s show at the Habitat Comedy Club in Mumbai’s Khar, where he performed a parody song targeting Shinde. The act prompted a strong backlash from Shiv Sena supporters, who vandalised the club and the hotel in which it is located on Sunday night.
Kamra was booked by the Khar police on a complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel for allegedly making defamatory remarks against the deputy
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